That's great. I have to say, I have seen a huge decline in many butterflies, definitely including the Monarchs. Someone (Monarch Watch, maybe?) is offering flats of milkweed for $60 plus dollars. I would love to have some. If anyone in OKC wants to split a flat with me, let me know.

http://monarchwatch.org/milkweed/market/

How many plants are in a flat??

Our milkweed plugs come in unmixed flats of 32 plants.
The plugs cost $66/flat, shipping included. Shipping is via UPS ground.
We accept check or money order only, payable to Monarch Watch. Purchase
orders are accepted in most cases. Your check WILL NOT be deposited
until we know your plants can be shipped.

I've been looking for pink milkweed. If you can get that, I'll split a flat with you!

I am going to order a flat- the species is requestable, depending upon what is native in your area- and I read through all the simple but lengthy documentation required to get a free flat for nonprofit groups. Quite doable, so I will get a flat for our cub scout troop. Then the cub scouts will turn the landscaping around the church into a Monarch waystation.
Last year we only saw three Monarchs in southcentral Missouri, and we were looking!

I heard a teaser for this tonight in the car, but with the weather, I wasn't sticking around to hear it...just remembered it now!

NPR: Monarchs Butterfly Population Rejuvenated

Ozarkheather, I have seen very few monarchs the last couple of years. I work, so it is possible I miss some, but I see very very few, and I have plenty of flowers to draw them in. Actually all my butterfly populations are down, with maybe the exception of the gulf fritillaries. I have been growing passionvine (their host plant) so while the numbers fluctuate a little year to year, I seem to have more of those than anything else.

i do grow milkweed, but the aphids are the main benefactors :(

If you have room to put a vitex (chaste tree) in, they do seem to love that. It is a soft wood tree, and mine takes quite a bit of pruning to keep in line, but it is a butterfly/hummingbird magnet.

Our monarch population seems alright during summer months. I think I see as many as I always have, but keep in mind, in our largely rural area near the Red River in SC OK, we have acres and acres and acres of native milkweed plants scattered around the county. The milkweed is a regular "invader" of cow pastures and we have lots of cow pastures here, some of which aren't ever sprayed with broadleaf weedkillers, allowing the milkweed to thrive.

However, the migration numbers are so far down it is ridiculous. The last 3 or 4 years, we've barely seen any migrating monarchs at all, and when we see them, we see small amounts---1 here, 2 there, 3 or 4 here or there. We used to see hundreds at a time as they came down low to the ground at night to nectar and to find trees to spend the night on. One memorable year in the early 2000s we had thousands of monarchs spend the night on a dead elm tree on the edge of our woodland. It was a spectacular sight. I didn't know it would be the only time we'd ever see such a thing up close.

I blame a lot of the butterflies' plight, nationwide, on GMO crops, but even gardeners contribute to it, inadvertently, by purchasing chemically-treated plants from nurseries and big box stores. Most bedding plants sold in the USA (unless labeled as organically-grown and chemical-free) are sprayed with systemic insecticides at the commercial greenhouses where they are grown. Those systemic insecticides are taken up internally by the plants and remain inside them internally for months and months. People who have purchased milkweed at nurseries to feed the monarch caterpillars they are raising indoors for release have inadvertently killed their own monarch cats by feeding them purchased milkweed plants contaminated by systemic insecticides. It is very hard (nearly impossible) to find bedding plants that have not been treated with systemic pesticides. I used to purchase lots of bedding plants to add color to our garden areas, but now raise almost all my own instead. Since the point of having all those flowers is to feed the pollinators and butteflies, what good does it do to purchase plants at regular nurseries and garden centers knowing that they have been treated with systemic pesticides at the commercial greenhouses? And, you cannot count on the nursery or big box store employees to know if their plants have or have not been treated with those systemic insecticides because they have no idea unless you are talking to nursery employees at a nursery that raises all its own plants from seed and has a policy of not using those systemic pesticides.

It is wonderful that you can buy milkweed plants from Monarch Watch (and native plant nurseries that also are devoted to raising chemical-free plants) that were raised safely, but I sure wouldn't buy milkweed at a big box store or nursery.

I didn't realize the vitex was that big an attractor. Glad to hear. I planted one year before last. I think I'll see a lot more growth on it this year. Do you do a hard prune? I'm hoping I can keep it where I planted it.

(the other) Dawn

What is the lime green ground cover?

sweet potato vine (ornamental). After much trial and error, I finally decided that was the best plant for the end there. Sometimes I run the purple with it, but the solid green makes a nice statement.

You can see how the shade from the tree has really affected the hardy hibiscus.

Lisa, My vitex is about 15 years old and I haven't pruned it in about 10 years. Isn't that awful? It really needs major pruning as it shades the ground beneath itself so heavily that there isn't much that thrives beneath it....I think that all that is left there now is one groundcover juniper that is as old as it is and some native sedges. I have been toying with taking the chain saw and sawing it off at the ground. I bet it would regrow like crazy. I'm not worried about it not recovering from being cut off at the ground----vitex won't die and I don't think it is possible to kill them either.

I think that your garden always does look lush and beautiful. I've never seen a photo of it when it didn't look darn near perfect.

Bon, Those are the same kind of ornamental sweet potatoes I grew underneath my pepper plants last summer as a living mulch although I did alternate the chartreuse ones with the dark purple ones. The pepper plants were the happiest they've ever been so I think the sweet potato foliage kept the ground even cooler than mulch does. It was a rainier than normal summer too, so I had to keep pruning back the foliage of the ornamental sweet potatoes so it wouldn't climb the pepper plants. I just threw the prunings on the compost pile and the deer ate them every night.

Dawn, I hard-pruned my vitex in its second, third and fourth years and lightly pruned in its 5th year. It responded equally well to hard or soft pruning, so I think you can prune it any way that you choose and it will handle it just fine. I haven't pruned it in a long time, largely because I just never get around to getting it done.

I've been toying with the idea of planting a row of vitex along the edge of our southern fence line for the entire 300' from the roadway to the house. There is horrific clay there, so I don't know if all of them would survive, but the only way to find out for sure would be to try it. Maybe I'll try 3 or 4 this year, widely spaced, and then add more next year if those 3 or 4 can tolerate that dense clay.

Just thought I'd jump in after lurking for forever. I ordered Milkweed (asclepias tuberosa) seeds from Earth Care Seeds. I've no idea how successful they will be in the sandy/edge of forest where I want to grow them but it's worth a try.

I've not thought of using vitex to attract butterflies. What a great idea - think I'll try to find some plants locally.

Shaer

Shaer, where is "local"? If you are near OKC, I can tell you where I have found them

That would be great. We live east of Norman out by Thunderbird lake.

Down here in southern OK and also in western North Texas, I have seen Chaste Tree (Vitex agnus-castus) in 1, 2 or 3 gallon pots in spring, usually in the April and May time frame, in the outdoors garden center area at Lowe's, Home Depot and Wal-Mart. I also see it in a lot of nurseries in containers about the same size but at a somewhat higher price.

I have found them at Home Depot...after I bought a pricier one at Precure Nursery in OKC. :) My original one came from Horns, which unfortunately is no longer in business.

Thanks, I'm heading to town today so will try Home Depot although it might be a bit early in the year for them to have much. Do you have much of a problem with bees around the vitex? I have a son that freaks out over bees although I like them a lot. I'll just plant the vitex a bit farther from the house.

I am sure I have bees, but I have not been bothered by them around the bushes.

I think it is way too early for vitex to be out. Usually the box stores don't have items until they are leafing out. But it never hurts to keep checking!

I paid $10 for mine at Marcum's Nursery.

WOW! Nice price.

Marilyn of Wild Things nursery always has lots of Milkweed and other pollinator and wildlife friendly plants. You can get her stuff at various festivals and markets. http://www.wildthingsnursery.com/

If you're ever in Norman on Saturday there's a good nursery out east of town that has many milkweeds and natives: Prairie Wind Nursery. They will also be at some of the festivals etc.